Financial Seminar Reflection

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By Mark Swanson, Pastor, Wiley Heights Covenant Church

Pastor Mark Swanson with his family

We all know and understand the necessity of proper stewardship of our resources, but we do not all know the best way to accomplish that work. On a Saturday in September several churches were represented in Yakima, Washington, as we heard from Rollie Persson of National Covenant Properties and Stan Reiff of Capin Crouse, a CPA and consulting firm devoted to serving not-for-profit organizations. This was the Financial and Real Estate Training for Church Leadership and Staff offered by National Covenant Properties. Over the day we gained insight on how to protect ourselves and our resources with integrity and security. It was a lesson in how to best offer transparency and safeguards to best care for what we in our churches have been entrusted with. This included how we approach the vital work of budgeting and care for our property. In the end we walked away with a toolbox of safeguards and inspiration on how to handle what we have been given for God’s mission priorities in our own local contexts.

[Click Here] for more information about Covenant National Properties

Simplicity That Comes From Following Jesus

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By Greg Yee, Superintendent, PacNWC

What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?

Luke 9:25

One would think that after two major moves that my family would have successfully purged so much of what we’ve accumulated over the years.  There’s something deep that happens when you are forced to completely pack up all of what you have to put into a truck and then unpack it again to find new places for everything.  From the Bay Area came14 years in Chicagoland, 11 years in Sacro-tomato, and now 7 years in Renton, home of the second-place Seahawks and the plant that normally cranks out 52 737 MAX’s/month.   

You would think that we would have been an easy early adopter to Marie Kondo before she became a thing.  Instead, prompted by our second of three birdies leaving the nest, we more recently began instituting the Kondo-way on our house minus the thanking of everything.  FYI, you might find some really good stuff at the Goodwill on Sunset in Renton!  We’ve committed to purge and scale down. 

I just watched the Netflix documentary Minimalism.  In the film it speaks of the correlation of physical/mental/emotional health and the accumulation of stuff.  Earlier this year the NY Times article “The Unbearable Heaviness of Clutter” points to a growing body of studies that show that clutter significantly contributes to negative health affects.  Is this why Swedes are some of the healthiest people on the planet?  After you visit IKEA and get yourself more organized, read other studies like the one by Tim Kasser from Knox College who states in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology that there is a clear “link between materialism – or valuing money and possessions – and poor physical health.”  Our accumulations are making us sick; on multiple levels.

As Mary and I have purged like we’ve never purged before, the truth of the matter is that we continue to get a flow of boxes Amazon Primed, stuff I probably don’t really need from AliExpress (but it’s so cheap!), and other mail order packages that gives that adrenaline shot when we see them waiting for us like an eager pup on our porch.

There was something about the film that resonated so deeply with me.  It felt inspired. As I’ve reflected on that, I know it touched deeply, because it’s how we are hardwired to be – what God intends for us.  His commands and guidelines in scripture help us to understand what is best for us.  And it seems clear that God wants us to be more like minimalists rather than grand accumulators.  We continue to ignore and break a few commandments too frequently don’t we? 
not keeping the sabbath
envying stuff
having other gods before God
and showing too much worth to inanimate objects. 

As we go into the seasons of Thanksgiving and Advent, I encourage you to take some time to stop, reflect, and premeditate the holidays.  How can you deliberately slow down, simplify, not be caught up in more stuff, connect with loved ones and strangers, share the good news of Jesus in word and deed
?  Premeditate a deliberateness to not feed the greed or chase the pace that’s shrinking your soul. 

So many verses encouraging the simplicity that comes with following Jesus.  Don’t skip them!

Two things I ask of you, Lord; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.  Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’  Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God. 

Proverbs 30:7-9

And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind
Better one handful with tranquility, than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.

Ecclesiastes 4:4, 6

Then he said to them, â€œWatch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions. 

Luke 12:15

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 

Colossians 3:1-2

Stay warm, Friends.  Follow Jesus.  I pray that you have a wonderful beginning to the holiday season.  And as Jesus said, What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? I pray that you will find and own your very self, your true self, as a follower of Him. 

From Rapper to Pastor and Back

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By Jelani Greenidge, Co-Pastor of Worship & Proclamation, Sunset Covenant Church

You wouldn’t necessarily know this just from examining 21st century pop culture, but hip-hop music has always been a vehicle for protest, even since its very beginning. From the time that emcees (aka MCs or masters of ceremony) and deejays (aka DJs or disc jockeys) began experimenting with rhythmic chants layered onto beat breaks from R&B records, there’s always been consistent duality to the music. On the one hand, it’s supposed to be fun, interesting, entertaining and often downright exhilarating. On the other hand, the subject matter can often be dark, solemn and full of despair and foreboding. Over the last four decades that duality has fueled its growth as an artform; people are attracted by the spectacle and the sonic wizardry, but they connect to the stories of pain, struggle, and at times, overcoming.

My journey as a rapper started with my dad. A lot of people don’t know this, but he was the first member of our family to publicly write and perform a rap, when he was the youth pastor at Maranatha Church in the late 1980s. He caused quite a stir, and it left an impression on me. As I got older, first in my early teens and then in my early 20s, he continued to encourage my brother, my friends and I to use rap music as a form of public ministry. He saw that I was gifted in rhythm, rhyme and intellect, and he pushed me to hone my craft in the way that I was most excited. It’s not a coincidence that my first rap group was called “The Iccsters,” an homage to the church home that birthed our ministry, Irvington Covenant Church (aka ICC).

And a young adult fresh out of college, my love for hip-hop music led me to continually find ways to incorporate it into the worship music experiences I had become entrusted with creatively overseeing. As I became a worship leader, then a worship director, and then eventually I transitioned into becoming a worship pastor, my knowledge and love for hip-hop culture became my distinguishing calling card. And as hip-hop continued to spread further and further into the nooks and crannies of American popular culture, I found that the language and mannerisms of hip-hop were an easy shorthand that I could use to connect with people who grew up listening to the same kinds of songs and watching the same kinds of music videos.

As I continued in my church work and my twenties stretched into my thirties, I kept doing hip-hop music, but my opportunities were fewer and further between them. My rap group partners and I were getting busier and busier, and we lived further and further apart. I still listened to hip-hop, along with plenty of other diverse forms of music, but it was no longer the main focus of either my music or my ministry. As I watched the next generation run with hip-hop as a way to leverage a new form of activism, I was content to remain on the sidelines.

But in early 2017, I felt the old stirring for hip-hop culture return, magnified by a new sense of frustration and moral indignation regarding the direction of evangelicalism writ large, especially in white evangelicals and their support of the current presidential administration. I wrote and released a song called “We Are the Resistance [Push Back]” as an expression of that protest. 

Since then, I’ve done a fair amount of writing, speaking and engaging in online discussions around these issues, and I’ve tried to do my best to be a moderate, bridge-building voice, doing my best to model a tone of mutual respect and civility. And as the public discourse kept heating up more and more, it got harder and harder to maintain this posture
 but I did my best. Eventually I realized that my style of respectful dialogue and thoughtful engagement was its own form of resistance distinct from the other forms I was accustomed to seeing.

All the while, I kept writing music. Worship music for use in the church, but also hip-hop music. Mostly I did it as a hobby to entertain myself and a few of my friends. But the longer I did it, the more that I realized that this music was an expression of the values I was trying to live out on a day to day basis. It was also much more mature than the music I made in my 20s, because I was now viewing the world through the lens of a pastor who cared for people and wanted them to avoid some of the mistakes I made earlier in life.  I realized it could bless a wider audience than what I initially intended it for.

So this has become my brand, both in hip-hop and in life in general. And now, as a solo artist, I’m ready to share that music. It’s a double album entitled How I Resist. The first half debuted on October 15th and is now available to purchase or stream in all digital music outlets, and the second half is debuting later this month. To celebrate this, I decided to stage two concerts. If you’re one to wait for an invitation, this is it:

Pastor Jelani “G-Natural” Greenidge invites you to not one, but TWO release concerts to celebrate his newest double album release. “How I Resist, Vol. 1” is now available in all digital music outlets (like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, etc.) and “How I Resist, Vol. 2” is soon to follow. As a black pastor, these albums represent his alternative vision of what it means to be a Christ follower in our current fractious political environment. You can enjoy great music and stimulating conversation FRIDAY NOVEMBER 15th at West Hills Covenant Church and SUNDAY NOVEMBER 17th at Portland Covenant Church (formerly Irvington Covenant), both at 6:30PM. If you’re unable to come out in person, you can still join in on the epic release party with a series of webcasts, live videos, and prize giveaways throughout the weekend. For more on this, follow him on Facebook.

[Click Here] to visit the Release Party Facebook Event Page

[Click Here] to find Jelani’s new album on all your favorite digital music outlets

Praying for the Power of the Holy Spirit for Witness

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By Grant E. Christensen, Pastor, Grace Covenant Church of Bremerton

Luke 24:44-49 (nasb95)  Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” {45} Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, {46} and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, {47} and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. {48} “You are witnesses of these things. {49} “And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” [1]

Acts 1:6-8 (nasb95)  So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” {7} He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; {8} but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

In both Luke 24:48-49 and in Acts 1:8, Jesus links the disciples’ witness with their receiving power “when the Holy Spirit has come upon” them. In Luke, after stating that they will be witnesses of His death and resurrection, Jesus commands them to wait in Jerusalem until they are “clothed with power on high.” In Acts Jesus tells His disciples that they “will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon” them—and as the implied result of this empowerment that they will be His witnesses “in Jerusalsm, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

I find it more than significant that the Holy Spirit in God-breathing the Gospels and Acts has set forth a very specific timeline, which—when considered—gives much needed light to our call to be witnesses. In Luke chapter 24, I find the following precise time line set by Dr. Luke:

Luke 24:1 (nasb95)  But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.

Luke 24:13 (nasb95)  And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem.

Luke 24:33 (nasb95)  And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them,

Luke 24:36 (nasb95)  While they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be to you.”

Hence, on the very day of the resurrection of Jesus, after His appearance and revelation to the two men in Emmaus, and after they have hurried back to Jerusalem, Jesus appeared to His disciples as they were hearing the report from the two men. Significantly, Dr. Luke tells us that Jesus “opened their minds to understand the scriptures.”

In like manner, the Apostle John also sets a precise timeline in John chapter 20:

John 20:1 (nasb95)  Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb.

John 20:19-22 (nasb95)  So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” {20} And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. {21} So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” {22}And when He had said this, He breathed on them and *said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit

In this passage too, John emphasizes that Jesus appeared to the disciples in the evening of that first day, the very day of Jesus’ resurrection. However, where Dr. Luke had said that Jesus “opened their minds to understand the scriptures,” John says that Jesus “breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’ ”

Earlier in John, Jesus had already told His disciples that He would give them the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, who would guide them into all truth:

John 14:16-17 (nasb95)  “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; {17} that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.

John 16:13 (nasb95)  “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.

It is readily apparent, when one pieces both stories together, that Dr. Luke’s record of Jesus “opening their minds to understand the scriptures” and John’s record of Jesus breathing upon them the Holy Spirit, while saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit,” are one and the same event. The very reality of the disciples receiving the Spirit of truth has the result of opening their minds to understand the scriptures!

Furthermore, within the wider context of the Gospel of John, I find two fulfillments of promises made by Jesus in His giving them the Spirit. The first is found in Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus in John chapter 3:

John 3:5-7 (nasb95)  Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. {6} “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. {7} “Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

Within the context of the Gospel of John then, the moment when Jesus gave the disciples the Holy Spirit after the resurrection is the precise moment when we see them born of the Spirit!

The second promise of Jesus about the giving of the Holy Spirit is found in John chapter 7:

John 7:37-39 (nasb95)  Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. {38} “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'” {39} But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Herein I find that Jesus promises the Holy Spirit to everyone who would believe in Him, but that they would only receive the Spirit after Jesus had been glorified. Within the Gospel of John, Jesus’ glorification is nothing less than His exaltation on the cross. Hence, on the first day of the week, the same day that Jesus has been resurrected from the dead, He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” In that one event the Holy Spirit took up residence within the disciples, having opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and they were born again!

Many scholars I have heard and read have stated that for John the Holy Spirit was given on the first day of the resurrection and that for Dr. Luke the Holy Spirit was given on the day of Pentecost. If this is the case, why would the Holy Spirit in God-breathing these texts give us such a precise timeline for the giving of the Spirit in John and for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit in Acts? Also, how was it that in Luke Jesus opened their minds to understand the scriptures?

I believe two errors have been made:  the first error is to say that the fullness of the Holy Spirit is received when one believes; the second error is to say that the Baptism of the Spirit is a second work of grace necessary for salvation—as so many Pentecostal groups suggest. If every Christian has received the Holy Spirit and has also therefore received the empowerment of the Spirit for witness, why don’t we see present day disciples leading others to Christ in droves? What I find scripture actually teaching is that on the first day of the week the disciples were truly born of the Spirit, having received the indwelling Spirit of truth who had opened their minds to understand the scriptures. On the same occasion Jesus commanded the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they have been clothed with power from on high for the supernaturalizing of their witness. Again in Acts 1:8 Jesus said the same thing to them!

On the day of Pentecost when the Spirit was poured out upon the gathered disciples, they begin speaking in foreign tongues so that everyone present could understand them! Furthermore, Peter—now clothed with power from on high—preached one sermon and 3,000 people “received his word and were baptized.” It’s more than significant that at the giving of the Ten Commandments—what Paul calls in 2 Corinthians chapter 3 the ministry of death—3,000 people were killed; at the giving of the Holy Spirit—what Paul calls in 2 Corinthians chapter 3 the ministry of the Spirit—3,000 people came to life. The Ten Commandments brought death; the Holy Spirit brings life!

I suspect in our time, we have become so accustomed to relying on what I call “ministry technology,” that we have neglected the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to supernaturalize our witness. If I couple this with the how much more willingness of the heavenly Father to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask, I find that the Father longs to empower our witness—longing to send us power from on high so that we too might witness in the power and might of the Holy Spirit. We have not because we ask not. What might happen if together with one voice we were to ask the Father to empower our witness by the Holy Spirit? What might happen if we relied less on all of our “ministry technology”—our techniques and programs and strategies—and more on the ministry of the Holy Spirit—who gives life! On what occasion are we disallowed from asking for the empowerment of our witness by the Holy Spirit? I pray that we would all have ears to hear!

© 2019 by Grant Christensen. “Freely you have received, freely give.” (Matthew 10:8b niv) You are free to share—copy and redistribute in any medium or format—as long as you don’t change the content, don’t use commercially without permission of the author or author’s family, and include attribution with the following Creative Commons License:

[1]  New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.

[Click Here] to see Grant’s previous article in this series titled, “Asking for the Holy Spirit”

AVA Has a New Home

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By Ruth Hill, Interim AVA Activator, PacNWC

Advocacy for Victims of Abuse (AVA) is now under the ECC’s Love Mercy Do Justice (LMDJ) ministry priority, a change announced at the AVA Retreat held in Minneapolis in July prior to the I AM Women’s Conference.

The three-day AVA Retreat, organized by out-going director Rev. Meagan Gillan, exceeded expectations with over 80 men and women in attendance. At its conclusion, the newly elected executive minister of LMDJ, Rev. Paul Robinson, expressed his gratitude for AVA’s history and his strong support of AVA’s future under the leadership of its new director, Rev. Ramelia Williams.

Newly installed AVA director Rev. Ramelia Williams (left) thanking retiring director Rev. Meagan Gillan for her faithful ministry.

AVA RETREAT

The July AVA Retreat unveiled the newly updated and expanded training materials. Attendees were excited to see the additions, as well as the new look of the resources. Specific care was given to make the materials suitable for both diverse presenters and diverse audiences. Rev. Gillan lead the basic AVA training the first day and a half; for the next eight hours, trainees could take the training to become potential facilitators of Mending the Soul or hear from experts in the field of pastoral care for trauma survivors, ACE, as well as participate in other AVA activities.

The PacNWC had nine people (from three states) in attendance, the most of any ECC Conference. Thanks to the strong support of PacNWC Women Ministries, most of their expenses were covered. “I am excited by the strong interest across the Covenant in the AVA Ministry and hopeful this, combined with new leadership under LMDJ, will result in more churches becoming safe sanctuaries and healing communities for those who have suffered abuse,” said Ruth Hill.

MENDING THE SOUL

Kayla Standish, from Hope Covenant, Everett, leading her table group in an AVA Retreat exercise.

Rev. Yvonne DeVaughn, Lynda Delgado and Ruth Hill were invited to create the Covenant’s training module for Mending the Soul (MTS) Facilitators. MTS is a 12-session journey of healing for survivors of abuse. “When we were preparing the training module, we pictured 10 to 12 trainees; imagine our joy when 38 people filled the room!” said Ruth Hill, PacNWC Interim AVA Activator.

The 8-hour training is part of the credentialing process to become a facilitator of the Mending the Soul Workbook. The training begins with a Biblical foundation for the ministry, why this particular resource was the chosen tool, and a careful self-examination of suitability to be a facilitator. The last half of the training focuses on how best to facilitate each chapter.

When MTS trainees were invited to put a dot by a form of abuse they had experienced, no one was prepared for its impact; each dot represented not a statistic but a person’s horrific pain.

A particular highlight of the training was a powerful exercise created by Lynda Delgado for the chapter on Surrendering to God’s Love. She challenged the trainees to identify impressions, feelings, observations distorted by Satan about our abuse that build a wall between us and God. These were written on brick patterned poster paper and pasted to the walls of the room. They were then challenged to write a truth from a list of Scriptures that contradicted those feelings on the same “brick.” Then all the bricks were laid in a row, forming a pathway to the front, representing a pathway to healing. “Watching the pathway grow left us with a holy awe of our Great Healer and Restorer,” said Hill. “It also underscored the potential of Mending the Soul to lead wounded people to healing in their relationship with God.”

Lynda Delgado (far left), Ruth Hill and Yvonne DeVaughn (far right), trainers of Mending the Soul facilitators at the July AVA Retreat.

Kay Strom, from Shoreline Covenant Church, reflected on the 3-day training: “When my daughter was abused by her Sunday School teacher, I had nowhere to turn for help. The church elders—one of whom was my husband—voted to forgive and forget. That still painful experience is the reason I was eager to be a part of the AVA Retreat. Thanks to the training we received, our church is a place of caring people able to help.”

NEW STRATEGIC PLAN

Both the AVA and the MTS groups reunited to hear the New Strategic Plan at the close of the AVA Retreat. Since most attendees had previously worked in the AVA ministry, there was heightened interest in learning what would be different going forward.

The AVA goals were inspiring:

  • Greater presence across the Covenant
  • Standardized training with updated materials and statistics
  • Every Covenant pastor AVA-informed by 2022
  • Frequent connection and resourcing of all AVA leaders
  • Clear record keeping
MTS trainees were invited to indicate a form of abuse they had experienced.

Five AVA ministry opportunities were articulated:

  1. AVA Local Advocate
  2. AVA Regional Trainer 
  3. Conference AVA Activator
  4. Mending the Soul Facilitator
  5. AVA denominational leader

It was clear that communication between the AVA Leadership at Covenant Offices and conference and local leaders was going to be a priority. The new policies will enable stronger support and guidance from AVA Leadership to both regional and local leaders, as well as enhance reporting from the ministry fields to the denominational office. There will be regular one-hour informational, continuing education video conference calls to help all team members stay up-to-date on the latest developments in AVA/MTS. Each leader will be encouraged to attend no less than two each year.

For each role, both a clear job description and role requirements and expectations were named. For Mending the Soul Facilitators, the pathway to credentialing in the Covenant was articulated. Facilitators who are currently certified through the organization Mending the Soul will be encouraged to fulfill the Covenant’s credentialing process and work in compliance with the Covenant’s AVA policies. Interested in continuing or joining the PacNWC AVA Ministry? Contact PacNWC Interim AVA Activator Ruth Hill to learn more about the New Strategic Plan and how to be involved.

MALE PARTICIPATION IN AVA

It was unique to have men participating in the July AVA Retreat training! Originally housed in the Department of Women Ministries, AVA appeared to be a ministry to female victims of abuse by trained female leaders. And with limited funding, resources were created that reflected the statistical reality that more women than men are victims of abuse. However, according to a 2010 national intimate partner and sexual violence survey, 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men in the United States have experienced some form of physical violence by an intimate partner[1]. And 1 in 20 boys are sexually abused[2]; the statistic could be significantly higher given the reluctance to report it.

“When we launched AVA in 2004, we were asked if there would be help for men as well as women,” says Ruth Hill, former Executive Minister of Women Ministries, now PacNWC Interim AVA Activator. “That was the goal; we knew there was a tremendous need. Now, that need is being addressed. And men are stepping up to be trained!”

After Rev. Gillan preached at a PacNWC church some time ago, the lead pastor told her a man dared to break silence and tell him he had been a victim of childhood sexual abuse. At this time, the PacNWC does not yet have enough men trained to respond in an informed way. This requires identifying and training men who feel called to the AVA ministry. “I pray that the PacNWC will one day have a number of trained men willing to minister to male victims of abuse!” said Hill.

OCTOBER – DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH

October is Domestic Violence Awareness month! We want to encourage PacNWC churches to bring awareness and remembrance of those who live in unsafe domestic spaces or have experienced some form of abuse which damages their image bearing nature as a child of God. The  AVA Advisory Team, under the Love Mercy Do Justice ministry priority, has provided an array of tools to support that effort. To receive the resources, please email the PacNWC AVA Activator, Ruth Hill.

[1] Black, M.C., Basile, K.C., Breiding, M.J., Smith, S.G., Walters, M.L., Merrick, M.T., Chen, J., & Stevens, M. (2011). The national intimate partner and sexual violence survey: 2010 summary report. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nisvs_report2010-a.pdf.

[2] “Child Sexual Abuse Statistics,” National Center for Victims of Crime, 2019.

[Click Here] to visit the ECC Advocacy for Victims of Abuse Web Page

I Do What’s Best For Others So That Many May Be Saved

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By Greg Yee, Superintendent, PacNWC

As I began a ZOOM connection with a few pastors as a follow up to our reading Francis Chan’s book Letters to the Church, I presented these statistics.  Behind the Northeast as a whole and specific cities there, Seattle and Portland always rank among the most unchurched in the U.S.  Barna takes it a step further and finds that 39% of Portland and 50% of Seattle are post-Christian, meaning that many people marked at least 9 of 16 criteria which identified a lack of Christian identity, belief and practice. Leaders in British Columbia speak of church work in parts of Canada being “pre-Christian“ now; meaning there is such an absence of familiarity with Christianity that it’s like a new mission field of unreached people.

We also looked at a Barna chart showing that generationally we are trending toward higher and higher percentages of people disconnected from church/Jesus the younger you look: 28% of Elders (1945+), 35% of Boomers (1946-64), 40% of Busters (1965-83) and 48% of Mosaics (1984-2002).

In addition we also reflected on PacNWC statistics that show seemingly encouraging trends year over year since the 2008 bust.  We have seen increasingly higher per-attender giving as well as increasingly higher local church income. In contrast to these overall upward financial trends, our aggregate attendance has been declining during that same period.  We noted that our relative financial strength may be in fact giving us a false sense of security. 

As we sit with these often overwhelming realities, we sober up and remember that it is not a mistake that we are here at this time and in the Pacific Northwest for God’s Kingdom purposes. It is not a neutral placement or random coincidence.  It is most certainly not a mistake that we are here.  God sees us, empowers us, and calls us here.  We are missionaries to the Pacific Northwest.  

These are our sure convictions, but we receive Henry Ford’s pearl again, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” I think that’s a good word when we’re faced with different levels of decline or a sense of diminishing momentum and spirit. Is it time to stop the assembly line and take a more intense look at what’s going on and what might need to change? Is there a sense that we are still making Model-T’s during an age of Tesla’s and autonomous cars?

In Paul’s earnest plea to the Jesus-followers in 1 Corinthians 10:33, he urges, I, too, try to please everyone in everything I do.  I don’t just do what’s best for me; I do what’s best for others so that many may be saved.  This is Paul’s lead into saying at the beginning of chapter 11, Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ. Jesus was willing to give it all up so that you and I would know salvation.  Likewise, Paul himself gave up everything in order for others, especially non-Jews to know the good news of Jesus. 

My prayer is this – as you walked through your fall launch or as you anticipate it soon, that you have spent good “balcony” time to evaluate and do a check-up of how you are stewarding what God gives you.  Evaluation should be a regular and natural flow of leadership and life/ministry together.  Without evaluation, activity, structures, culture, processes, and expenditures that are mis-focused push us further away from being who we are supposed to be and the work we’re supposed to do. We continue to get what we always got.

As you do good prayerful evaluative work, here are some of my musings from my conversations around the conference:

  1. With all of our advances, people long to be connected to other people.  Create new spaces and clear pathways for people to relate, explore, and learn. Nothing replaces intentional life-on-life work.
  2. Despite all our technology, we are hard-wired as the created, to know and touch the Creator.  I think we need to focus less on worship style and more on creating worshipful environments where people can experience the supernatural; something bigger than themselves. 
  3. Pray, pray, pray.  Pray together.  Pray together regularly.  Build a culture of prayerfulness.  If you’re not praying you’re clearly doing everything in your own power and in your own wisdom.  Seek God and pray together.
  4. Whatever time, leadership, and effort you are putting into evangelism/discipleship, double, even triple it.  Keep investing in and maturing the family business. In our humanness it’s natural to not prioritize this because of the high cost it demands.  Quadruple it…!
  5. Call people to their Holy Spirit infused giftedness.  We are a training and development organization.  Be more like a trade school rather than a university.  Don’t leave gifts on the bench.  Have clear pathways of developing people. Call out your gifted women.  Call out your gifted young people.  Debunk the concept of retirement.  Create a culture and clear pathways of leadership/gift exploration and development. 
  6. Keep the expectation bar high for your people to engage the community, address societal good, protect life, and uphold God’s fullness for your neighbors.  Keep learning/reading and exploring.  Keep talking and stretching.  Be a beacon.  Be salty.  Serve your community/town/area. 
  7. Feed back, assess, dream, analyze, discern, evaluate… keep up the good work that is yours.  May God bless you richly as you launch into this new school year. 

Ministry Opportunities for Your Church at Cascades

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By Jessica Palmer, Program Director, Cascades Camp and Conference Center

Greetings from your friends at Cascades!

We just wrapped up our 30th summer of ministry here a few weeks ago, and we continue to celebrate and bask in all that God did in this place. Between all of our youth programs this summer, 236 campers renewed their commitment to Christ, 124 campers gave their life to Christ, and 242 campers sensed a call to ministry. Praise God!

It was a pleasure to see so many of your familiar Covenant faces throughout the summer – so thank you to those of you who attended our programs, served alongside us in some capacity, or prayed us through our busiest season of ministry.

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 1:3-6

As you’re looking ahead to this coming winter and spring, I want to remind you that beyond summer programming and conference-wide events, Cascades offers a variety of ways to partner with you and your church. Retreats are a wonderful opportunity to step away from the rhythms and distractions of daily life and enter into a time of rest and fellowship with God and others.

Leadership & Cohort Retreats
Bring your church leadership team out for a retreat, or gather with a group of colleagues. Lodging is provided at $200* a night for your entire group. Meals are not included. Madrona Lodge provides space for up to 24 people in four bedrooms, with the common space including a kitchenette (bring your own serving and cookware). Reservations are based on availability. *Fee is waived for church plants for the first leadership retreat they book at Cascades.

Church Retreats
Planning a men’s, women’s, youth, or all-church retreat for your church? Big or small, we have a space for you. Various lodging options are available, with meals included in our dining room. Cost varies depending on the size and scope of your event, but all Covenant churches receive a 10% discount.

Now is the time to book, because holding a retreat between December 1st and February 15th is nearly 15% less than our peak season pricing. Contact our Guest Services Manager, Terry Whitcomb, for prices and scheduling.

We’ll hope to see your church out at Cascades this winter or spring!

[Click Here] to visit the Cascades Camp and Conference Center website

Arlington United Hosts March Against Hate

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By Deena Jones, Lead Pastor, Arlington United Church
Arlington United Church, in response to recent incidents of racial violence and fear in the nation, organized and sponsored an anti-hate rally in Arlington, WA.The focus was on love, specifically Jesus’ command in John 13:34-35 to love one another. Other churches in town were invited to join in. Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church, an ELCA church, participated. A crowd of approximately 60 people were there, including many small children.
Some invited speakers were not able to attend, but sent statements that were read. They included Mayor Barbara Tolbert, Congressman Rick Larsen (who grew up in Arlington United and is still listed as a member), and County Councilman Nate Nehring. Speakers, in addition to Pastor Deena Jones of Arlington United, were City Councilman Mike Hopson, Arlington Chief of Police Jonathan Ventura, Rev. Jessica Ronhaar of Youth Dynamics, and Mr. Will Nelson representing the Arlington School District and also speaking as a Native American. He was given the last word for the evening.
All the speakers focused on our call to counteract hatred with love and to celebrate diversity, rather than fear it.
As the organizer of the event Pastor Deena shared that it is time for people of good will, and especially the church, to stand up and speak out. Those in the majority culture can no longer pretend that racism is a thing of the past. Racists and white supremacists have been emboldened to speak and act, so we must be just as bold in saying “No!”
The evening was very positive. It was good to have participants from various roles within the community. It would have been nice to see more churches join in, but we are thankful for those who did.
[Click Here] to visit Arlington United’s web page

Introducing Ben Zable, new Lead Pastor at Shoreline Covenant Church

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By Erik Cave, Director of NextGen Ministries, PacNWC

Enjoy this interview with Ben Zable, who just started at Shoreline Covenant Church as the new Lead Pastor.

What is your personal and ministry background?
I grew up in the Covenant, as the son of a Covenant pastor. We moved all over North America throughout my childhood, from Illinois to California to Alaska to Washington to Saskatchewan to Rhode Island. I went to North Park University for undergraduate studies and worked at Pilgrim Pines for four summers during college. After graduating from NPU I served as a Youth Pastor in Connecticut for two years, before getting married and moving back to Chicago to study at NPTS. While in Chicago my wife, Dre, and I served at Resurrection Covenant Church in part-time capacities with worship and outreach. After spending 2 years in Chicago we moved to Michigan where I took a Youth Pastor position while finishing up seminary at a distance. After 6 years there, graduating with my MDiv from NPTS, and getting ordained I transitioned to serve as a Lead Pastor in South Dakota. After five years there my family made the transition to Washington at the beginning of August. We are excited to become a part of the community at Shoreline Covenant Church and the larger church family that is the Pacific Northwest Conference!

What are you passionate about in ministry right now?
Right now I am passionate about learning. There is so much to learn in a new church and context. I am excited to know people and be known by them! I am also passionate about sharing with them from God’s Word. I love sharing my heart and helping scripture come alive in new ways. Lastly, I am excited to dream with my leaders and staff. I can’t wait to see what God is leading us toward and who God is calling us to reach in our community!

How can we pray for you?
I would love if you would pray for my family as we continue the adjustment away from a place we knew and where we were known. Please pray for God’s wisdom for me as I seek to lead and shepherd with grace and truth. Please pray for Shoreline Covenant Church as we walk into the future that God has laid out before us. May we be faithful to follow wherever the Spirit leads us, whether it’s beside quiet waters or raging rivers.

Five things you didn’t know about Ben:

1.       Where is your favorite place to be?

At the campfire in the backyard with my wife

2.      What is your favorite thing to do?

It’s a toss-up between playing soccer and sitting at a campfire

3.      What’s the weirdest job you’ve ever had?

I worked the afternoon shift at a bakery when I was in high school. I was allowed to eat as much as I wanted of anything that we made in house. I ate a lot of donuts


4.      What would you do (for a career) if you weren’t doing this?

Professional soccer player, although that wouldn’t be a reality. I guess I’l stick with my day job.

5.      What are your three most overused words/phrases?

Right now it’s “transition” and “season”

[Click Here] to visit Ben’s Facebook page

[Click Here] to visit the Shoreline Covenant Church web page

There Can Be No Knowledge Without Emotion

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By Greg Yee, Superindendent, PacNWC

I recently heard this quote from English novelist Arnold Bennett,

“There can be no knowledge without emotion.  We may be aware of a truth, yet until we have felt its force, it is not ours.  To the cognition of the brain must be added the experience of the soul.”

Love this. I’ll come back to it later.

As Evangelicals, we believe that the Bible is God-breathed and that it is the only perfect rule for faith, doctrine and conduct.  This Creator-inspired holy script wholly instructs, inspires, and corrects us.  It sits in our lives and our life together as our foundation and our life-lamp.  It is world-view shaping and counter-cultural.  The words we read are not just English translations of ancient manuscripts. The Hebrew author tells us that the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. The Covenant’s first and foundational affirmation is the centrality of the Word of God and states that the dynamic, transforming power of the word of God directs the church and the life of each Christian. We boldly confess and live out the fact that, today, God continues to reveal Himself to us through the Old and New Testaments.

I start there because my heart is heavy about the challenges of our life together as a mosaic of 77 churches.  I’m concerned because I perceive that we like the idea of being a diverse conference, but I’m not sure if we’ve counted that cost and given ourselves completely to it.  I’m afraid that what we are called to do and be too quickly gets labeled as non-biblical or not about the gospel.  I want us to do thorough biblical work and understand what scripture challenges us to do and be.  I believe that this is what we are called to in this season.

It’s our conference vision. We are a mission movement that believes that God calls us to be a mosaic of churches working interdependently together to transform lives and communities.  We follow God’s word and together commit to each other to reach as much of the Pacific Northwest as we can.  By “to reach” I mean more people giving their lives to Jesus, and “to reach” I also mean communities/cities/regions/countries/the planet being transformed as God’s kingdom ways are established here and now; personal wholeness and societal wholeness; God’s shalom.

I love the growing, beautiful mosaic God is building in us.  We are seeing more and more of the image of God through our diversity.  We have six different ministries for Spanish speakers from Aloha, OR to Burlington, WA.  We are planting our first Chinese language church in Bellevue.  And don’t forget our Nepali-speaking congregation in Kent, four Korean-speaking churches in OR and WA, and a Liberian, Pan-African, and other Latino churches we’re currently talking to.  The PacNWC is about 30% multiethnic. We are in agricultural and in our largest urban areas.  We are near universities, military bases, in all of our state capitols, and around the largest and leading companies on the planet.  We are a diverse missionary people call to this incredible slice of the world.

We are an growing, beautiful, potent mosaic.  God invites us forward…

So, together as a diverse conference, on mission together, and founded on the centrality of Scripture, how do we live and serve together?   I especially wonder how we live and serve together when difficult things happen. So often during tough times, we instinctively quote good scripture to each other like, If one part suffers, every part suffers with it… How do we suffer together and how do we see God’s Kingdom established amidst pain and difficulty?  How do we incarnate ourselves and lay our lives down for each other?  How do we see others interest as more important than ours?  How do we follow Jesus in this way (Phil 2:1-11)?

When we hear about somebody shooting up a WalMart and intently targeting Mexicans on August 3rd and then hear about the largest workplace immigration raid in a decade on August 7th, how do we respond?  Don’t read this politically.  We have immigrants in our churches that were terrified after these incidents; fellow Covenanters that continue to be profoundly affected even today.  How do we do life and ministry together amidst that?  What is our responsibility to each other?  What is the gospel work here?

Andy Larsen (Quest/MENA), Mat Hollen (St. Thomas Cov, Salem) and I joined 34 others two weeks ago on the Covenant’s Sankofa Journey.  This 4-day cross-racial immersive experience visited historical civil rights locations and followed the trajectory of life for African Americans.  Sankofa was profoundly revealing.  It was disturbing to plumb our history and even more concerning to see how much it affects life today: red-lining, implicit bias, and mass incarceration to name a couple. I’m also aware of stories from our ranks.  Recently a pastor shared about his son being unfairly treated at his school and the unprofessional responses from the administration.  Another leader saw her son detained and searched as he was walking to his car in front of their house.  Another leader was pulled over so many times while serving in his region that he had trouble renting cars.  Other Covenanters share about their elevated levels of stress and physical ailments as a result of generations of anxiety and trauma as African Americans.  How do we do life and ministry together knowing these things?  What is our responsibility to each other?  What is the gospel work here?

God’s holy and perfect Word confronts us.

Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, and plead the widow’s cause, (Isaiah 1:17).

The red letters clearly tell us as Jesus said,

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments (Matt 22:37-40).

It brings me back to Bennett‘s quote, “There can be no knowledge without emotion.  We may be aware of a truth, yet until we have felt its force, it is not ours.  To the cognition of the brain must be added the experience of the soul.”

May we experience each other and draw closer together. May we be stirred by each other’s experiences and actually suffer when the other suffers. May we have righteous indignation and be moved to kingdom action.  As 77 churches on mission together, may we clearly answer together, how do we do life and ministry together knowing these things?  What is our responsibility to each other?  What is the gospel work?